It's clear that being bilingual has many benefits. Although the journey is very long and difficult, when you reach the goal the rewards are amazing. For this reason, it is important to have the support and dedication from the parents. Recent statistics have shown that the majority of people in the world today are bilingual and although in the past this was considered a disadvantage when compared to monolingual people, recent studies have shown that there are many more advantages than disadvantages to being bilingual or multilingual. That is why, here I will speak to you about 5 reasons why you should help your child to become bilingual:
1) Bilingual people process information faster
As the brain is used to working hard (when you are bilingual) to identify the language you need, processing information becomes easier and faster. When you speak more than one language the brain is constantly working and as a result becoming more flexible, this means that a bilingual person can receive and process information with more clarity and much more effectively compared to a monolingual person. This is a huge advantage from a very young age as it will help a child during their time in education - it will help them to understand and process concepts that could seem a little more difficult to their monolingual peers.
2) It becomes easier to travel abroad
Speaking more than one language opens many doors and definitely increases the possibility of obtaining a visa to travel, work and study anywhere in the world. One of the main requisites when applying for a visa is to speak the language of the country you want to travel to. For this reason, it is important to learn a second language from a young age so you can increase the opportunities of studying, working and traveling abroad. Another advantage of being bilingual when you travel abroad is that you can communicate well in any situation. Whether it's for work, study or simply to speak to people you meet, being bilingual helps a lot. I have come across many foreign students in various countries that have to work as cleaners, waiters in restaurants that speak their mother tongue or in a bar (being professional individuals) only because their level of English/German/Mandarin, etc. is not good enough to find a job in their profession.
3) Better employment opportunities
Nowadays it is normal for companies to require the applicant to speak a second language, at least at a basic level. This is why if we help to prepare children from a young age to learn a second language, we are increasing their chances of obtaining an amazing job opportunity. Various studies have proven that many employment opportunities are better paid when the candidate is bilingual. Today, most companies are growing globally and need people who can speak more than one language at an advanced level. For this reason, learning a second language from a young age gives a person an advantage when applying for their dream job as their level in the language will be much more advanced than those who have began to learn as an adult.
4) Better social skills and cultural knowledge
It's no secret that being bilingual provides us with many opportunities and one of them is being able to improve our social circle and cultural knowledge. Speaking another language gives you the opportunity to speak to and get to know people from other cultures, which will allow to grow in a more personal way. This is a great benefit as you are able to improve your self confidence, your self esteem and your social skills. Being bilingual also helps you become more open minded, to understand different ways of thinking, whilst understanding why and how different cultures do things. Overall, speaking another language helps you to open up to the world and encounter more opportunities globally.
5) Makes it easier to learn more languages
When you speak more than one language your mind is open to learning another one. As your brain is constantly working, it becomes easier to learn another language more fluently. When you learn a new language, the brain plasticity increases which means that you have greater capacity to concentrate and focus, which helps to work out the characteristics of the language you are learning. Being bilingual also improves your memory, which is great when learning a new language. If you have a good memory you can learn faster by remembering all that you learn, making the process of learning additional languages easier.
For these reasons, we recommend parents to help their children to learn a second language from a young age. It is very important for the child to have their family's support during this process, as it is very difficult to maintain focused and motivated without the help of the parents, or at least a native tutor. The purpose of this blog is to remind parents the importance of supporting your child to become bilingual. The benefits/advantages that I name here are just 5, but there are many, many more - So if your child has not yet started to learn a second language, we recommend that they start today!